


In Another Life

by sherrycatalina



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Depressed Thomas, Dimension Travel, How Do I Tag, M/M, Newt (Maze Runner) Dies, Newt (Maze Runner) Lives, POV Alternating, Protective Newt, Romance, its complicated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-09 21:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16457351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sherrycatalina/pseuds/sherrycatalina
Summary: In one life, Thomas struggles to live with a gaping Newt-sized hole in his life. Every second is a living hell without Newt by his side.In another life, Thomas manages to save Newt: Brenda got to Newt in time, Thomas got the cure from Teresa, and they got their chance of a happily ever after.But what if one Thomas wakes up to a sleeping Newt curled by his side? What if another Thomas learns the agony of a life without Newt?What if the two of them switched places?





	In Another Life

**Author's Note:**

> Summary: If Brenda had made it there on time...

_"It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway through the world." -The Chaos Theory_

 

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maze Runner nor any of its beloved characters.**

 

Black ooze dripped and slid down Thomas’ cheek, but Thomas paid no heed to it. He was more focused instead on trying to keep Newt’s hands from thrusting the knife into Thomas’ chest. The knife was slowly pushing in more and reached Thomas’ skin, drawing blood and a scream out of Thomas. Thomas struggled harder to push Newt’s hands away, but Thomas was no match against the inhumane strength of a cranked Newt.

 

“Oh hell no!”

  
Suddenly, Newt and his knife skidded a few feet away from Thomas. Thomas looked up only to see Brenda above him with her leg extended in front of her. She made it in time to kick the cranked Newt off of Thomas before Newt could stab Thomas fully in the heart.

 

“Brenda?!” Thomas wheezed out as he got to his feet. His eyes noticed the serum in her hand and hope fluttered in his chest. He turned to meet her eyes and they both nodded at each other resolutely; they were going to deliver this serum into Newt even if it killed them.

 

Snarls were their only warning before Newt got back to pouncing at them. He lunged at Brenda first, enraged by her kick to his side. His knife swung blindly in her direction, but Brenda backed away quickly with every step Newt took. While Newt’s attention was on Brenda, Thomas took the opportunity to step around Newt and tackle him from the side. He pinned Newt down against the floor but not without struggle. Newt’s cranked self seemed to instinctively recognize its end and bucked wildly against Thomas. His jaws snapped at him and his eyes shone black with primitive savagery, but Thomas pushed Newt’s head away from him. Brenda, not taking any more chances, plunged the serum into Newt’s leg.

 

Newt’s body arched from the ground, his eyes rolling backwards. Thomas quickly moved off of Newt, but Newt continued to convulse on the ground while letting out howls of pain.

 

“Newt!” Thomas’ eyes widen in panic and he looked to Brenda in concern. “Is this what’s supposed to happen?”

  
“This must be a reaction from the Flare trying to fight off the cure,” Brenda grimaced as Newt’s body shook in frenzy. Newt gave a final scream before falling unconscious, his head rolling to the side. Brenda went to check on Newt, but Thomas made no move to walk over. Instead, he stared off into the distance.

  
“Thomas, we have to go. It’s only a matter of minutes before Lawrence’s rebels or WCKD finds us. We need to get on the berg and leave!” Brenda yelled at Thomas, but Thomas shook his head.

  
“Not without the real cure. You heard Teresa. My blood is the only thing that can save Newt. That serum is only temporary. We need a permanent cure,” Thomas reminded Brenda. The sound of footsteps and panting reached his ears and he could see Minho and Gally running towards them.

 

“You guys take Newt back to the ship. I’ll get the cure! Meet me near the WCKD headquarters!” Thomas shouted before taking off towards WCKD.

 

 ~

 

The world faded in and out. Blood poured out of his gunshot wound, and he felt arms wrapped around his body. A voice yelled at him to keep going, but he couldn’t feel his legs. The vial of serum weighed heavily in his pocket and the need to deliver this for Newt drove him forward. And so, he forced himself to move, one foot after the other. His face singed from the fire around him and his lungs burned with every intake of smoke. He vaguely recognized that he was on the roof and his arm hung over someone’s shoulders. He stared out in the distance, but he couldn’t spot the berg anywhere.

 

Thomas felt himself being turned around, but an explosion erupted from the door. Thomas lost his balance and slid to the ground of the roof. He curled in pain from jostling the gaping hole in his side. Arms wrapped around him again, supporting Thomas’ weight from aggravating the wound. Thomas leaned into the comfort of the arms. His foggy brain, from the blood loss and smoke inhalation, saw a blurry image of Newt holding him. He felt tears dripping down to his face. The idea of Newt crying churned in his thoughts and he leaned up only to feel lips crashing down upon his, devouring him into a kiss.

 

The lights from the berg washed over them, breaking them apart. Thomas’ mind was in a daze, blurring his vision once more. He barely felt the movement of his body being dragged to the edge of the rooftop, until he felt the wind from the ship’s engine blasting his face. Hands were stretched out a few feet away from him.

 

“REACH!!”

 

The hands cried for him, but Thomas was too tired. His body felt too numb, and all he wanted to do was stay here with Newt. Suddenly, his body was lifted into the air as he felt arms from around thrusting him into the air. He hit the platform of the berg and was pulled up by the hands. Quickly, he turned around to face Newt, but all he saw was Teresa: Teresa standing alone on a collapsing rooftop.

 

“Teresa!” Thomas’ world turned clear again. He could see Teresa with tears in her eyes. Staring into her eyes, she gave him one soft smile before falling down along the crumbling rooftop. Her body fell limply through the air until smoke and debris obscured her from his vision. Even though she had betrayed them, she didn’t deserve to die like this.

 

Thomas stared blankly. Another person had lost their life too early to save him—the memory of Chuck’s face flashed before his eyes. Thomas let a tear slip from his eyes. He felt hands pushing his body to roll over and reaching to lift his shirt up. Blood was smeared all over his torso, and Thomas found himself fading in and out of consciousness. He suddenly remembered the last thing Teresa gave him. With a trembling hand, he reached into his pocket and shoved the serum into one of the hands.

 

“Newt…” Thomas whispered before succumbing into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha I'm back at it again with another story. This idea has been poking me at the back of my head and I had to let it out. Appreciate the nice writing while you still have the chance, because I literally rewatched some of the maze runner clips which may or may not have led to me simply retelling the scene. Oops?
> 
> I probably should've built an outline but I also believed in the art of "yoloing". The story could probably go a lot of ways.


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